Creative Work Database

Listing of creative work related to Singapore.

Our new Creative Work database is a repository for literary and dramatic works related to Singapore which are written by FASS Faculty and Students, past and present. The contents of this work-in-progress call on the theories and techniques taught and researched at FASS. Some of the creative work links to a sample of the original text. Research is also ongoing and the database will grow as we continue to update it. Items with the symbol “i” indicate that an abstract is available.

To search more effectively, please use the MLA or APA citation style which uses the author’s last name and initials.

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This reflective piece considers the impermanence and continuance of the events in life against the backdrop of East Coast Beach in the night, amid the crashing waves and under a sky littered with stars.

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This poem describes the boundless vitality of Dragon's Teeth, a prominent strip of coastal land in Sentosa, due not only to its newest attraction (a casino) but also a coastal landscape teeming with life.

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The legend of Singapore's naming is humorously narrated here as Ting churns out a playful version of the story from the Sejarah Melayu about Prince Sang Nila Utama's landing, humorously suggesting that the name "Singapura" came about from a mistaken sighting of a lion.

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This poem uncovers the cosmopolitan nature of Changi Airport, observing that red seats indicate the non-smoking zone where travellers speak Japanese, while blue seats indicate the smoking area where American travellers are puffing smoke.

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This poem depicts the daily hustle and bustle of the morning rush-hour scene in Singapore's MRT. Commuters are likened to warriors fighting for a place on the train or guarding their terrority in their race against time to arrive at work punctually.

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May 1954 was an eventful year for students of Chinese schools in Singapore as the British sought to conscript soldiers to fight the Malayan Communist Party. This poem depicts the struggle between the British colonial masters and the local students.

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For historical reasons, the Clementi stretch of the Malayan Railway running from Keppel station to the Woodlands Checkpoint has been left neglected and has long been obscured by overgrown weeds and trees. Its abandoned state is described in this poem.

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Through a contrast between the transience of homes and boats, and the permanence of the sky, the silence of rocks and trees with the voice of the sea, this poem captures the experience of being on Pulau Ubin.

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On Singapore’s 25th National Day, the author laments the nation’s rapidity of development, and the relentless replacement of the old and familiar with the new. Comparing Singapore’s fast-paced development to his journey on the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system, he observes that one is left unable to recognise the Singapore of the not-too-distant past.

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This poem describes the self-obsessed nature of typical Singaporeans living in Housing Development Board (HDB) units. It gives a tongue-in-cheek description of the daily idiosyncrasies of those who reside only within the four walls of their apartment unit while largely ignorant of the affairs outside their self-contained worlds.